Chables d



(NoModeL) C. D. P. GIBSON.

PLATE FOR STORAGE BATTERIES.

No. 882,858." Patented Ma /8, 1888.

' plete plates.

. together and flattened down it will nearly,but

CHARLES D. r. GIBSON on NEW YORK, N. Y.

PLATE FOR sro RAG E B ATTERlES.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,358, datedMay 8,1888.

Application filed December 28, 1887. Serial No. 259,213. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OHARLEs D. P. GiBsoN, of the city and county of NewYorlqin the State of New York, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Plates for Storage-Batteries, of which the following is aspecification.

I produce oollow projections, which I term bosses, on both faces of thelead plates, or rather of the skeletons, which are to become, whenproperly charged and prepared,the com- Each hollow boss on one side isoppositeahollow boss on the other side,and the cavity is continuedthrough the plate. One or both of the bosses is open when the plate iscast or otherwise shaped. The cavity thuseX- posed, extending quitethrough the plate and out into the boss on the farther side, is filledwith peroxide of lead, the material being introduced by hand or by othersuitable means. Care should be taken not to supply too great a quantityof such material. The active material charged into the cavity is notcapable of being much compressed. It is important to only introduce somuch as may be readily reduced to the contracted dimensions to befinally maintained. After the charging the lip which constitutes theopen boss is deflected inward bya suitable die. This operation isfollowed by treatment which flattens the bosses and makes the completedplate, presenting a practically plane surface on each face. The openboss is so conditioned with regard to thickness and the extent of itsprojection beyond the face of the plate that when it is drawn not quite,close that side of the recess. The opposite boss may be similarlyformed-that is to say, it may be made in the open condition andafterward drawn together; but I prefer for ordinary cases to make oneboss closed, but it should be thin in the central portion, so that alittle disintegration of the surface of the plate under the intenseaction of the dynamos willoxidize quite thrbugh at that point and allowthe free access of the fluid to the active material within.

' The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, andrepresent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure 1 is a general side view of one of the plates. The remainingfigures represent portions on a larger scale. Fig. 2 is a sectionshowing a plate in the act of having its bosses flattened. This figurealso shows a pair of metal rolls for effecting this operation. Fig. 2""is an end view of one of the series of dies, formed each with a conicalcavity in the end, which is employed to deflect the lips of the openboss together. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, showing this die and asuitable counterdie in the act of closing the boss. This figure showsalso a portion of the plate inits previous condition. The extreme rightof the figure shows the condition in which the bosses are cast. Fartherto the left shows the condition after the cavities have been chargedwith the proper quantity of active material. Farther to the left is aboss in the act of being closed by the dies; and still farther to theleft is a boss closed, ready to be flattened. Fig. 3 is a plan view of aportion in the condition in which it is cast. The remaining figures showmodifications. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are vertical sections through the axisof a pair of bosses.

Thestrong lines in Fig. 4 show both bosses open and cast in one with theplate. The dotted lines show the lower boss partially closed, ready toreceive the partial filling of active material. Fig. 5 shows one bossclosed and the other boss open. Both bosses are formed in a piece castseparately and forced into'a hole of corresponding size cast orotherwise produced in the plate. Fig. 6 shows both bosses formed in aseparate piece correspondinglyinserted, but with both bosses open. Fig.7 is a top view of a modification, in which the bosses are rectangular,and the cavity for the reception of the active material iscorrespondingly rectangular. Fig. 8 is a vertical section through thesame, with the die over it ready to close the open boss on its descent.Fig. 8 is'a bottom view of such top die.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures where they occur.

I will first refer to Figs. '1, 2, 2", 2", and 3. In these figures, A isthe main body of the plate,and a a are the cavities which are to receivethe active material. The position of power.

the plate when in use is vertical; but I will describe its manufactureas being conducted while in the horizontal position. A is a seal formedby an extension of the lead across the bottom of a cavity and closingthe lower side thereof. The middle of this. seal is thin, so that whenthe plate is subsequently exposed to the current and disintegration ofthe surface commences the entire thickness in the mlddle of this sealwill be disintegrated and the solution will have access to the activematerial in the cavity. A is a lipextending upward around the cavity. Itis of proper form and-size to close the upper side of the cavity awhenever it is properly deflected inward and pressed down. The seal Aprojects as a boss at the lower side of the plate. Thelip A projects asa' boss at the ripper side of the plate. The cavities at having beencharged with the proper quantity of active material,introdueed either byhand or machinery, the upper bosses, A, are drawn together by beingtreated with dies F having hollow faces, the lower side of the platebeing supported during this operation on a surface, G, which is concaveto correspond with the boss A. After all the cavihes a have received theproper quantities of the active material and all the bosses A have beendeflected inward, either separatelyvor simultaneously, nothing remainsbut to flatten the plate. This is effected by passing it between a pairof rolls, I J, which may be cylindrical rolls of metal turned by anysuitable The effect of these rolls is. indicated from right to left. Itemerges with the pairs of bosses completely flattened, so that bothfaces of the plates are plane.

Modifications may be made without departing from the principle orsacrificing the advantages of the invention.

The bosses may be treated singly or in series. I believe it practicableto deflect inward all the lips A of an entire plate by a single movementof a platen of proper length and breadth carrying avsufficient number ofdies, either formed separately and mounted in a single platen or allformed in one piece of metal.

I propose ordinarily to provide a suitable support, G, and a suitabletop die or series of top dies, F, to treat one row of the bosses,and toreciprocate such compound upper die up and down at a suitable speed toallow the attendant to shift the plate forward one row at eachreciprocation, thus subjecting all the rows in succession to the closingaction of the dies.

It is important that the lower bosses, A, be closed or nearly closedbefore the partial filling of active material is introduced into thecavities a; but it is not essential that they be cast in the form abovedescribed extending across the bottom of the cavity. Fig. 4 shows bothformed open, and the dotted lines show the lip which formsthelowerbossdefiectedinward. Figs. 5 and 6 are sections showingmodifications. In these the bosses corresponding to A A and the spacecorresponding to a are formed in pieces separate from the body of theplate and afterward set in previously-prepared holes of proper size.Fig. 7 is of interest. It shows a face view ofa plate with square holesand suitable projections on the four sides thereof corresponding infunction to the lip A These projections may be wedgelike or A-shaped.Figs. 8 and 8 show the provisions for deflecting these projectionsinward.

I claim as my inventionr The method described of producing plates forstorage batteries by forming them with closed or nearly-closed bosses Aon one face, adapted to be accessible to the acid, and open bosses Aopposite thereto, with cavities a between, next depositing a limitedquantity of the active materialin such cavities, then nearly closing theopen bosses, and finally flattening both sets of bosses and compressingand confining the active material between them,while allowing access forthe acid thereto, as herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at New York, this 15thday of December, 1887, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. D. P. enason.

Witnesses:

DANL. W. EDGEOOMB, CHARLES A. TERRY.

